Dean of Students Teresa Hord Owens runs career-oriented workshops throughout the year

Professor Lucy Pick leads an annual syllabus workshop for students

Craft of Teaching events offer unique conversations on pedagogy

Career Services

The University of Chicago Divinity School is committed to preparing students for a wide range of professional career paths. Knowledge of religion as a human phenomenon is a core cultural competency in today's global, pluralistic society. Engagement with other human beings in any field necessitates an understanding of how, if at all, people understand religion to be a part of their cultural context.

Whether pursuing careers in the academy, public religious leadership, public policy, law, management consulting, community development, advocacy, human services, or business, students across all four degree programs (AMRS, MA, MDiv and PhD) at the University of Chicago Divinity School gain knowledge of the world's religious traditions through engagement with major texts and other sources, and develop unique skills and expertise, including:

Ability to think deeply within at least one discipline, and across related disciplines

Critical and rigorous engagement with ideas, grounded in theory and methodological frameworks

Engagement with many publics, including the academy, religious communities, public and private sector concerns

Experience in translating research into relevant practice and application

The Divinity School's unique and innovative pedagogical curriculum--the Craft of Teaching in the Academic Study of Religion--seamlessly interweaves our commitment to preparing outstanding educators in the field of religious studies into the experience of graduate education at Swift Hall. Through a year-round program of seminars and workshops, we sustain a vigorous conversation on religious studies pedagogy both within and across all the Divinity School's diverse areas of study. Students in all four degree programs are able to benefit from focused development in this program in all of its dimensions. Doctoral students who complete our Craft of Teaching Program will not only have reflected upon the challenges of teaching religion in a range of institutional contexts, on different religious traditions and topics, and in conversation with faculty and peers within and beyond their own areas of specialization, but they will have significant teaching experience. PhD students in the Divinity School teach in both standalone lectureships and teaching assistantships in the Divinity School, College, other divisions on the University and a large number of institutions in the greater Chicagoland area. Master's students are welcomet to participate broadly in the Craft of Teaching, and leverage its professionalization opportunities toward their own career goals, be they in the academy or in other profesional pursuits.

Students preparing for ministry and public religious leadership have the diverse religious communities of the city of Chicago and the wider metropolitan area at their disposal. Engagement with this broader community begins in the first year of study, continues with two field education placements, and leverages a wealth of experience from local religious leaders in the classroom and among the religious communities that they serve. The integration of the academic study of religion with the actual practice and experience of communiites is shared with a cohort of students whose interests include all areas of study and across the entire faculty of the Divinity School.

Divinity School students have access to faculty experience and networks, staff expertise, as well as the vast alumni network of the Divinity School and the University of Chicago. The Office of Graduate Student Affairs (GSA) partners with the Divinity School to provide resources and events tailored for the Divinity School. In addition, Divinity School students take advantage of a vast array of resources and events open to graduate students at the University, including the Chicago Career Connection.